Thursday, July 17, 2014

Children's Books: A Little Book About Confession for Children by Kendra Tierney

The Sacrament of Penance heals our souls when we hurt it by sinning. When we confess our sins to a priest, it is God who hears us and forgives our sins.18 God always forgives us if we are sorry, no matter how big or how many our sins are.

The Bible tells us the story of how Jesus treated a woman who had committed a big sin.19 She had been arrested, and the people were going to throw rocks at her.

Jesus came and told the people, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her." One by one the people put down their rocks and left.

When only Jesus and the woman were left he told her, "Go, and do not sin again."

God always forgives us when we ask, but he also asks us to change our behavior. The Sacrament of Penance helps us with this.20

18. CCC. 146119. John 8:3-1120. CCC 1468

This is a really terrific little book that I think might help parents as much as the children they read it with. For one thing, Kendra Tierney strips matters down to basics, as you can see from the excerpt above, to help everyone see the basis for all the ins and outs of the sacrament.

It begins with a brief glossary and then moves through a series of simple questions and answers. This is followed up with a brief look at a few saints who have links to confession, a simple examination of conscience, and a quick review of what actually happens during the sacrament. A really nice feature is that the cover has a quick reference on the front and back flaps containing the steps of the sacrament, the Act of Contrition, and an extremely brief examination of conscience. Personally, I found the examination of conscience really nice as a way to get back to basics in my own life. That may say more about me than it does about the book but, again, I think adults will find this touches them when they are reading through it.

I'm not crazy about the illustrations since they all look as if children drew them. Skilled children, to be sure, but children nonetheless. Maybe some children enjoy looking at pictures their peers could have drawn. I never found them appealing no matter what age I was. Of course, this is purely a matter of personal taste so don't let that stop you from picking up this gem of a book.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Some Like It Hot

Sugar:

Real diamonds! They must be worth their weight in gold!

Horoscope

You will slowly come to appreciate the value of silence when everyone seems to want to say things you do not wish to hear.

Note this is satire via The Onion (warning: site can contain explicit content). Satire means: trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Subscribe To

Stat Counter

The Technical Mumbo Jumbo

*Happy Catholic® is a legally registered trademark as relates to blogging.

Links: I do my best to link appropriately. However, if I do link to something, please have the courtesy not to request special wording or other such picky things unless I just plain have something wrong. A link is a courtesy and to receive it as such will show equal graciousness on the part of the recipients. Thank you!

Featured Artists: art from current-day artists is featured by permission and should be considered as under copyright. Contact artists at the links under their work for permission. Likewise, if I have featured someone's work and inadvertently not gotten permission, please rest assured this is an oversight. Contact me and I'll take it down.

Review Books: Often I am provided with a complimentary copy of a book. I try to remember to mention it every time, but sometimes fail to do so. Believe me, as several authors and publishers have had cause to know, the free nature of these books never moves me to write anything other than what I would write if I plunked down the full purchase price (plus sales tax!) at a bookstore near me.